The Ethical Detective

Moral Philosophy and Detective Fiction

Rachel Haliburton

Detective fiction and philosophy¾moral philosophy in particular¾may seem like an odd combination. Working within the framework offered by neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics, this book makes the case that moral philosophers ought to take murder mysteries seriously, seeing them as a source of ethical insight, and as a tool that can be used to spark the ethical imagination. Detective fiction is a literary genre that asks readers to consider questions of good and evil, justice and injustice, virtue and vice, and is, consequently, a profoundly and inescapably ethical genre. Moreover, in the figure of the detective, readers are presented with an accessible role model who demonstrates the virtues of honesty, courage, and a commitment to justice that are required by those who want to live well as a virtue ethicist would understand it. This book also offers a critique of contemporary moral philosophy, and considers what features a neo-Aristotelian conception of autonomy might display.« lessmore »

Rachel Haliburton is associate professor of philosophy at the University of Sudbury.

IntroductionChapter One: Would You Kill the Fat Man? Trolleyolgy, Stories, and the Expressive-Collaborative Construction of MoralityChapter Two: The Ethics of MurderChapter Three: Moral Technology and the Development of Virtue-Based AutonomyChapter Four: Why Humans Tell Stories: The Place of the Moral Imagination in EthicsChapter Five: Exploring the WastelandBibliography

The Ethical Detective

Moral Philosophy and Detective Fiction

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Summary

Summary

Detective fiction and philosophy¾moral philosophy in particular¾may seem like an odd combination. Working within the framework offered by neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics, this book makes the case that moral philosophers ought to take murder mysteries seriously, seeing them as a source of ethical insight, and as a tool that can be used to spark the ethical imagination. Detective fiction is a literary genre that asks readers to consider questions of good and evil, justice and injustice, virtue and vice, and is, consequently, a profoundly and inescapably ethical genre. Moreover, in the figure of the detective, readers are presented with an accessible role model who demonstrates the virtues of honesty, courage, and a commitment to justice that are required by those who want to live well as a virtue ethicist would understand it. This book also offers a critique of contemporary moral philosophy, and considers what features a neo-Aristotelian conception of autonomy might display.

Rachel Haliburton is associate professor of philosophy at the University of Sudbury.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

IntroductionChapter One: Would You Kill the Fat Man? Trolleyolgy, Stories, and the Expressive-Collaborative Construction of MoralityChapter Two: The Ethics of MurderChapter Three: Moral Technology and the Development of Virtue-Based AutonomyChapter Four: Why Humans Tell Stories: The Place of the Moral Imagination in EthicsChapter Five: Exploring the WastelandBibliography